To mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday, Missio Nordica, the Pontifical Mission Societies in the Nordic countries, organized a special gathering at St. Eric’s Cathedral Parish in Stockholm.
More than seventy participants took part in a conversation on the meaning of mission and missionary discipleship with Fr. Michael Akpan, MSP, and Fr. Jenis Amirthanathar, OMI, two missionary priests serving in the Diocese of Stockholm.
Speaking in excellent Swedish, Fr. Michael shared how Christianity first took root in Nigeria through the efforts of Portuguese missionaries in the late fifteenth century and later expanded through the work of Italian and British missionaries in the nineteenth century. It was European missionaries, he noted, who brought the Gospel to the many ethnic communities of his homeland and to other parts of Africa.
Today, however, the flow of missionary outreach has been reversed. Missionaries from countries once evangelized by Europeans are now helping to sustain and strengthen the Church in Europe.
“I come from Nigeria, an African country, and I have been sent to Sweden to proclaim the Gospel in this beautiful nation in Northern Europe”, Fr. Michael said.
“Vocations are relatively few in Sweden, and the country is considered mission territory. The Church here now relies on missionaries from parts of the world that were once evangelized by Europeans. In this way, we are able to support the Church’s mission in Sweden. That is the beauty of our Catholic Church: we help one another and share responsibility for evangelization wherever the need is greatest. Today, five St. Paul Missionaries serve in Sweden. Although we come from different backgrounds, we are united by a common mission: to live our faith and help Catholics in Sweden deepen theirs.”
Fr. Jenis explained that Catholicism first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1507 with the Portuguese and was later spread by missionaries from India and other parts of Europe.
“The missionaries recognized not only the need for spiritual growth but also the importance of social development. They built churches, schools, and hospitals, and served people according to their needs” Fr. Jenis said.
“Today, as many European countries face a shortage of priests, we are being sent here, not to build schools and hospitals, but to share the faith, proclaim the Gospel, and bear witness to Christ in contemporary Swedish society.”
The discussion highlighted how the Church’s missionary outreach has come full circle. Both priests reflected on the fact that the faith was once brought to their homelands by missionaries from Europe, while today they themselves have been sent to Sweden to share the Gospel and contribute to the Church’s mission of evangelization. They emphasized that mission is not the responsibility of priests and religious alone, but the vocation of every baptized Christian.
Drawing on their personal experiences from Nigeria and Sri Lanka, Fr. Michael and Fr. Jenis spoke about what it means to be a missionary: to go wherever the Church is most in need, to bear witness to Christ, and to help build faith, hope, peace, and communion among people.
The speakers were interviewed by Anna Sandberg, National Director of Missio Nordica.
Fr. Jenis Amirthanathar (Sri Lanka), OMI and Fr. Michael Akpan, MSP (Nigeria) serve in St. Eric’s Cathedral Parish in Stockholm.